Dutch cuisine does not have a great reputation like Italian or French cuisine, but the comfort food Hutspot met Klapstuk can be taken to the next level by preparing it sous vide. Hutspot, literally hotch-potch, is carrot, onion, and potatoes, … Continue reading Braised Beef Short Ribs Sous Vide with Carrot, Onion, and Potato Mash (Hutspot met Klapstuk)
Amandelkrullen are classic Dutch cookies and they are very tasty. For Dutch pastry recipes, I always turn to Cees Holtkamps book “De Banketbakker”. Holtkamp is a retired famous Dutch pastry chef, of the pastry shop of the same name in … Continue reading Amandelkrullen (Curly Almond Cookies)
Pork tenderloin with a sauce of mushrooms and cream (Varkenshaas met champignon-roomsaus) is a classic example of Dutch cuisine, but I had never prepared it before. It is often made with store-bought powdered instant sauce and very old-fashioned. But it … Continue reading Pork Tenderloin with Mushrooms and Cream (Varkenshaas met champignon-roomsaus)
Someone in our Dutch sous vide group on Facebook asked if anyone had ever tried to make erwtensoep (Dutch pea soup) sous vide. I had not, and my first thought was that it didn’t make any sense, because the peas … Continue reading Dutch Pea Soup Sous Vide (Erwtensoep)
A frikandel is one of the most popular Dutch fast food items. They are usually produced from “mechanically separated meat”, which means any meat that can be obtained through mechanical means from a carcass after ‘regular’ butchering has finished. To … Continue reading Frikandellen (Dutch Deep Fried Hot Dog)
Duivekater is a traditional festive bread that originates in Amsterdam and surroundings and is now still popular in the Zaanstreek where I grew up (and still live), just north of Amsterdam. There are sources as far back as the 16th … Continue reading Duivekater
Dutch cuisine is not known for its finesse, but more for hearty dishes like stamppot, potatoes and vegetables mashed together. One of the classic winter dishes is zuurkoolstamppot met rookworst, sauerkraut mashed with potatoes and served with smoked pork sausage. … Continue reading Sauerkraut and Potato Mash with Smoked Pork Sausage (Zuurkoolstamppot met rookworst)
Stroopwafels are a Dutch treat that is very popular both inside and outside the Netherlands. They are thin round waffles, filled with syrup that has a hint of cinnamon. They are very addictive! When a Dutchman wants to charm a … Continue reading Homemade Stroopwafels (Dutch Syrup Waffles)
Roze koeken are very popular at Dutch highschool as a snack after (or instead of) a lunchbox full of sandwiches. The pink glaze on top of store-bought roze koeken looks and tastes a bit chemical, and it is. But that … Continue reading Roze Koeken (Pink Glazed Cookies)
Kibbeling is one of the most popular Dutch fish snacks. The name has been derived from kabeljauwwang (cod cheek), although nowadays a lot of kibbeling is no longer made from actual cod cheeks but from other pieces of cod, hake, or haddock. When I … Continue reading Kibbeling (Fried Cod Cheeks)
December 5 is the date of the Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) celebration in the Netherlands. Sinterklaas is a bearded fellow dressed in red who gives presents to children. Sounds familiar? The Coca Cola company moved him to Christmas and the North … Continue reading Kruidnoten
There isn’t much Dutch cuisine to speak of, but a popular tasty dish that is available all along the coast is “schol met patat en sla”, or fried plaice with fries and salad. Plaice is a flatfish that is common … Continue reading Fried Plaice with Remoulade Sauce
This is the third review of Librije on my blog, which is not a surprise as it has become a tradition for us to celebrate our wedding anniversary there every year (starting with our 3rd anniversary). We started this tradition … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Librije*** (2014)
In many workplaces in in the Netherlands it is a tradition to treat your coworkers to baked goods on your birthday, either homemade or store-bought. About a decade ago I worked with a guy called Benno and he was crazy … Continue reading Banana Eclairs (Bananensoezen)
Today was my birthday and in the Netherlands it is customary (although not everyone complies) to treat your co-workers to cake on your birthday. This cake can be store-bought or homemade, and it’s easy to guess what I chose. I love gevulde speculaas, which is spiced sweet shortbread (speculaas or also known as speculoos outside the Netherlands), stuffed with almond paste. Speculaas is very Dutch, as it celebrates the spices that were imported by the Dutch (from today’s Indonesia) in the 17th century. It is very popular around the St Nicholas celebration (December 5). The spice mix contains many of the spices that were very exotic back then: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardemom, and white pepper. The combination with almonds works very well. Continue reading “Gevulde Speculaas (Speculoos Stuffed with Almond Paste)”
This is the fourth and last installment (for now, anyway) of my series of Dutch sweets made with batter, which so fas has covered pancakes, oliebollen and appelflappen. Poffertjes are tiny pancakes made with a yeasted batter in a special pan called a poffertjespan.  They are usually served with melted butter and powdered sugar. Poffertjes are something you eat mostly as a kid, as a treat from grandma. Poffertjes are prepared at home or bought from a specialized streeet vendor, a poffertjeskraam. Poffertjes should be slightly crispy on the outside and soft and airy on the inside. Continue reading “Poffertjes”
Appelflappen are almost as common as a treat for New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands as oliebollen. Appelflappen are also known as “appelbeignets”, and to make it more confusing puff fastry envelopes stuffed with apple and then baked are also known as appelflappen. Appelflappen are apple fritters: apple slices dipped in batter and subsequently deep-fried. “Oliebollen en appelflappen” is a common term for what we have on New Year’s Eve. Continue reading “Appelflappen (Dutch Apple Fritters)”
Happy New Year everyone! May you eat well in 2014! On New Year’s Eve we eat oliebollen (literally: “oil balls”) in the Netherlands. Oliebollen are deep fried yeasted batter, often filled with raisins. They have been prepared in the Netherlands … Continue reading Oliebollen
Today is Kees’ birthday. I asked him what he’d like to eat for his birthday. He said: “Pannenkoeken!” (Dutch for pancakes.) This is the same answer that most Dutch children will provide by the way đ Dutch pancakes are thinner than American pancakes and thicker than French crĂȘpes. Dutch pancakes are not usually eaten for breakfast, but for dinner (for children) or lunch or dessert. They are most simply served with dark syrup (molasses) or plain sugar, with apple and cinnamon, or for a hearty lunch they are also made with bacon and/or cheese. Continue reading “Dutch Pancakes (Pannenkoeken)”
Since I had all this left-over kale from the kale salad with goat cheese I made recently, I decided to make a very traditional Dutch dish: boerenkool met worst. I’ve eaten this lots when I was a child, but never made it myself before since I never really liked it. I discovered that I actually quite liked this version, since it tastes a lot better when you remove the bitter stems from the kale. And perhaps my palate has evolved a bit, too? I’m not sure if the traditional smoked pork sausage (rookworst) is available anywhere outside of this country. … Continue reading Kale with Mashed Potatoes and Smoked Pork Sausage (Boerenkool met worst)
One of my favorite traditional Dutch dishes is “hutspot met draadjesvlees”: mashed potatoes, carrots and onions with braised beef and gravy. According to legend the recipe originates from the Siege of Leiden in 1574, but that cannot be accurate because potatoes were not eaten in Holland yet at that time (so it was probably parsnip back then). The traditional preparation means that you boil the potatoes, carrots and onions in ample water, but to amplify the flavor I sautĂ© the onions in butter and use as little water as possible. I’ve braised the beef sous-vide for additional juicyness and tenderness. … Continue reading Hotchpotch with sous-vide braised beef (Hutspot met draadjesvlees)
As you might have noticed, despite being Dutch I cook Italian almost every day. There are some exceptions however, and one of them is pea soup. About once every winter I make this hearty and very filling soup from scratch. … Continue reading Classic Dutch pea soup (erwtensoep, snert)
In the same baking spree as the apple pie I also made a pound cake. The name “pound cake” comes from the amounts of an old recipe for this type of cake: 1 pound of flour, 1 pound of butter, … Continue reading Pound cake
Today I’ve been on a baking spree because it was my birthday on Saturday and in the Netherlands it is a tradition to treat your colleagues to cake on (or after) your birthday. It is not necessarily a tradition to … Continue reading Classic Dutch apple pie
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